276: How AI is Reshuffling the Rules of Business Oct 29, 2025

How many founders think AI is about faster automation?

What if the real opportunity lies in reimagining how entire systems work?

Sophia Matveeva sits down with Sangeet Paul Choudary, best-selling author of Platform Revolution and Re/Shuffle: Who Wins When AI Restacks the Knowledge Economy, to e...

Continue Reading...
275: 5 Founder Lessons From the JP Morgan Tech Conference Oct 22, 2025

What separates founders who make it from those who stall out?

After spending two days surrounded by billion-dollar CEOs and investors at JP Morgan’s Tech Investor Conference in London, Sophia Matveeva discovered that the conversations happening in those rooms reveal far more than market gossip.

...
Continue Reading...
274: The Non-Technical Founder Mindset: How to Lead When You Can't Code Oct 15, 2025

Many startups collapse not because the idea fails, but because the pressure gets unbearable.

Sadly, it’s not strategy or funding that takes them out. It’s the grind, the chaos, and the sheer mental weight of building something new.

In this episode, Sophia Matveeva shares three mindset shifts th...

Continue Reading...
273: What AI Can (and Can’t) Do for Non-Technical Founders Oct 08, 2025

Founders love the idea of skipping engineers and letting AI code their dream app.

Sadly, that dream falls apart fast.

AI can write code, but it also hallucinates, breaks in production, and leaves you with messes you can’t fix if you're not a coder.

What looks like a shortcut turns into a cost...

Continue Reading...
272: Why This Is the Best Time to Be a Non-Technical Founder Oct 01, 2025

For years, non-technical founders were second class citizens in tech. 

Not anymore. 

In this episode, Sophia Matveeva shares five reasons why today is the best time in history to start a tech venture without being a coder — and why, in some cases, non-technical founders actually have the advant...

Continue Reading...
271: What Big Tech Taught Me About Leading Without Code Sep 24, 2025

 Can you really lead a tech company if you’re not technical yourself?

David Windley has done exactly that.

He’s the former CHRO at Yahoo, held senior HR roles at Microsoft, Intuit, and Activision, scaled a startup from <$1M to $50M as CEO, and now leads HootRecruit — a recruiting tech company. ...

Continue Reading...
270: Real People, Real Startups: Lessons from Our Alumni Sep 17, 2025

Most people think you need to be a Silicon Valley insider — or have millions in funding — to start a tech venture.

That’s just not true.

In this episode, Sophia Matveeva shares the journeys of four Tech for Non-Techies alumni who built products and startups without writing a single line of code...

Continue Reading...
269: 4 Non-Technical Founders Who Built Billion-Dollar Tech Empires Sep 10, 2025

Most founders think you need to be technical to build a billion-dollar company.

But some of the world’s biggest tech giants were started by people who never wrote a single line of code.

In this episode, Sophia Matveeva unpacks the journeys of four non-technical founders who rewrote the rules of...

Continue Reading...
268: How to Align Founders and Investors (Before Things Go Wrong) Sep 03, 2025

Most founders think securing investors will solve all their problems.

But fundraising often creates a new set of challenges—misaligned expectations, endless reporting requests, and pressure that pulls focus from building the business.

The truth is, raising capital isn’t just about money. 

It’s...

Continue Reading...
267: 7 Startup Lessons from BlackBerry’s Rise and Fall Aug 27, 2025

Most non-technical founders dream of building a game-changing tech product—without learning to code.

But bridging the gap between vision and execution? That takes more than just a good idea.

In this episode, Sophia Matveeva breaks down 7 essential lessons from the rise and fall of BlackBerry, a...

Continue Reading...
266. Founder-Led vs. Product-Led Growth: how to pick the right path for your startup Aug 20, 2025

Most founders dream of creating a product so good it sells itself.

That’s the promise of product-led growth: customers discover, share, and adopt your product with little to no sales effort.

Sadly that's rarely the reality.

In the early stages, almost every founder has to do the hard, unglamor...

Continue Reading...
265. From vodka shots to Y Combinator: how a non-technical founder built a global tech company Aug 14, 2025

If you’re a non-technical founder building your first product, this episode is for you.

In today’s lesson, Robyn Exton shares the real story of how she went from branding agency employee to founder of a global tech company — without writing a line of code.

She didn’t raise millions on day one. ...

Continue Reading...